Aeress
The whirring of the train was but a background hum. The blinds were pulled halfway down to block out majority of the daylight. Soon they would reach the Temple of Godhead, the new version anyway.
She looked down at Warrick who had his head lain on her lap. He was fast asleep, vulnerable and in her care. Her heart warmed with joy at the fact that he so easily put his trust in her, despite all the pain her presence has caused him.
Aeress couldn't help but run her fingers through his hair. He was handsome, more boyish looking with his features relaxed. She was so used to his stern expression that she cherished anything beside that.
Her tongue felt heavy and her throat was stuffed with cotton. "Warrick?" she whispered gently, leaning down and connecting her lips to his. As if never asleep, his hand came upon her locks and he pressed into her, responding to her kiss.
Their lips lingered before they parted from one another. He looked up at her. "Yes, Aeress?"
She paused and wished this fear would leave her body. "Do you think she's alive? Do you think she could have returned just as Bakir did?" There, she finally said it out loud.
He sighed and sat up, pulling her flush against him. "I'm sorry, but I'm not sure." He pressed his lips to the side of her head. "But if she is, we will find her."
She leaned her head against his shoulder. "I can't lose her again, it'll kill me," she whispered. "If he did find her and he did hurt her because he wanted to hurt me, it'd kill me, Warrick, it'd destroy me, I promise you that."
His hand squeezed her arm. "You're not going to die, you'll get though it, you've done beautifully so far. Don't give this piece of shit any measure of power, you are above that. You told me that yourself."
"I know. I know," she responded quickly, turning and burying her face into the side of his chest. "But... I just... I can't lose her again, understand? I can't even think about it without losing my mind."
"There's one thing I can reassure you of, and that is that I won't lose you, no matter what happens next, you can depend on me."
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"If you were just going to move me to another cell, what was the point of moving me to begin with?" Bakir sneered from his position.
"Do not even try to play dumb, it never fit you well," Aeress barked, her mood was black and lacking any measure of patience, "you know where we are, don't you?"
"Home."
"The home you ruined twice." For once she became calm, but in a way which threatened to disrupt at any moment.
"I'm a creature of habit. You know what they say, if they cheat once..."
Aeress didn't know how to react or feel anymore. "How could I have given birth to you?"
"How would I know? You failed the moment you brought me into this world, and you couldn't even take me out properly! Ha! Some god you are. You control nothinglike always." Even as he was beaten into an unrecognizable pulp, he remained haughty and unintimidated.
Aeress breathed in and out, remembering that Warrick was right outside the room. She had to stay focused. Her heart was steady in beat, and the sensation of a steady heart beat was all she needed.
It was quiet for a very long time.
Nothing was working. This was what she dreaded, but ultimately knew this was what needed to be done. There was only one thing left to do. She switched languages. "I'm sorry," she spoke, and his eyes widened in recognition of his mother tongue. "I have failed you in every way, especially as a mother. In giving birth to you, I passed my divinity unto your flesh, a violation of Nature's Law. No one but I should have that power, I realize that now, and have denied it for a thousand years. It is I who corrupted you. I must correct this mistake, so that you may be the love I meant to create."
Bakir looked completely caught off guard. As soon as she finished, his eyes were trained on the floor. He responded back in their language. "Finally, Mother, I've waited so long for you. The real you. We are home now, just me and you," he looked up at her and she saw her little boy once more, "me and you, let's stay here, like before. I'll make you so happy, Mother, I know I can. I've showed you my dedication, I brought us back together, you and me, how it should be... forever."
She wanted to cry. "After everything you've done, you know I can't allow that."
"Why!?" He screamed, bursting with tears of fury, like a child throwing a tantrum. "Because of what I did to Warrick? Avathara? When will you understand that I am all that matters?! I am everything, you need nothing else!"
She kneeled before him and shoved down her own anger. She held his face in her hands and looked into the eyes of her lunatic son. "Because it is not the truth," she whispered in their language. "Now tell me where she is so that we may both have peace."
His eyes darkened. "I don't want peace."
"You want death."
He froze, shocked that she would know such a thing. "Do not be so surprised," she said to him, "if you truly wanted the throne, the fight would not have been so easy, I did not raise you to be an undetermined warrior. I know what you truly seek, and I can give it to you, but first-"
"Give you her location so that you and that little bitch can have the life you always wanted, just you two? I'd rather suffer in this body of corrupted flesh for all of eternity."
She inhaled sharply at the truth. "She is alive. Have you hurt her?"
"Didn't need to, she was already fucked when I found her."
"Where is she! Tell me now!" Their little moment had been broken by reality.
"No."
Aeress sprung up, ripping him out of his seat by his neck. She roared into his face. "I've had enough, Bakir! This ends now!"
"Aeress?" Warrick's voice came from behind the door.
"Stay back!" she screamed in English. The walls around lit up with blue flames. "I'm ending it here and now."
Bakir looked down at her, scratching at her hold around his neck. "What now? Gonna give me another boo-boo? Been there, done that!"
"No," she spoke calmly. "I will not give you want, not your way. I will do much, much worse... I will make you what you hate more than anything in this world: human."
His eyes widened and he finally, for the first time in centuries, flashed fear in his gaze. "Don't! Don't! You can't!"
She snarled into his face as the bright blue brilliance brightened around them. "I am the Moon Goddess, Mother of Werewolves, Godhead to all of Werewolf kind, I can."
"Don't, don't you fucking dare!"
"Tell. Me."
He was panicked but too weakened to fight back. "She won't make you happy like I can."
She tightened her hold on him. "You've milked this Mommy Issues thing enough, I've humored you enough, Bakir. It's time. Now you can tell me, or I will find her myself."
Bakir looked at her for a long time. Sadness-though scrawny when compared to his madness-washed over him. "She's doesn't have a name-"
Her hold tightened, causing his coughs to increase in violence. "They never bothered to give her one! I'm telling the truth-"
"Give me a location, Bakir."
"Some coastal town off of Alaska."
As soon as he finished, she shoved her hand through his chest. How they switched positions! He screamed, not in pain, but in panic. "Wait! Just wait! Don't do this!"
"I will strip you of not only of your divinity, but also of your beastly nature." Heat burst from her chest and the flames began to creep along her arm and into him. She would burn it off, and absorb what she lost.
"Just kill me, kill me please!"
She felt a mix of emotions as she finally acknowledged that this would hurt her more than she wanted it to. The most prominent pain was her shame and disappointment. Disappontment in herself for taking so long to expel such an evil she lovedfrom the Earth. Godhead had known what she was doing when she terminated him the first time around, even during the raw state of her rage. A mother's love defies all logic in many ways, indestructable in others, and in this boundless warmth is a boundless strength. And she would use it in this moment to free them all.
Aeress knew this only because time has given her clarity.
She grunted as a sweat broke over her forehead. "Goodbye, Son." This was a farewell not to the monster she held, but the baby she gave birth to and nurtured.
He screamed and screamed and screamed.
The energy intensified to a defeaning peak until both of their shouting was drown out by something far greater. She was overcome as a hole within her filled, replete with pure love, and for a moment, she thought she was in heaven.
But then there was an explosion of darkness, his darkness. A consequence of her action. She closed her eyes and absorbed that too.
Forever passed and she dropped, completely drained.
The monster was gone.
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Author's Note:
Guys wtf, how is 'a thousand instincts' at 100k?? That is so amazing, I am so blessed, and you guys are amazing, whether you comment, vote, read, or add it to your reading lists, I always value any contribution. It never goes unnoticed by me.
I apologize for the wait, school has been very demanding and draining, and I honestly haven't decided how I want to end 'a thousand instincts' (not that I want to as you have seen from all these damn chapters lol) But alas, 'a thousand instincts' is coming closer and closer to THE END (don't mind my tears lol), and at the same time, it is very exciting because I WILL be returning to The Glorious Flame... although you guys know by now that I am constantly working on new ideas!
Until next time, stay sexy,
TPQ